Aldi and Lidl are still dominating the grocery market here according to the latest supermarket share figures. Dunnes Stores is the only one of the three big Irish retailers to grow its sales over the past three months by a relatively modest 0.7%.

The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland show that Aldi and Lidl have maintained their double digit growth at 21.6% and 13.2% respectively.

A gradual increase in the cost of food and drink is being pointed to for pushing inflation to 2.6% - a record for 2014 - which has increased the amount shoppers are spending at the tills and has kept the grocery market in growth.

"Dunnes is the only one of the big three retailers to grow its sales this period" said David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel.

"Its clear strategy of offering 'round euro' promotional offers is appealing strongly to price-conscious consumers. Some 30% of Dunnes' in-store sales are now sold on a round euro deal - up from just over 20% a year ago".

While SuperValu sales remain in line with last year, with a slight dip in market share from 25.2% to 24.8%.

Tesco is performing behind its main competitors, but its sales have improved since the decline of almost 7% seen at the end of 2013.

But both retailers have succeeded in recruiting new shoppers this month.

SuperValu gained 32,000 additional shoppers and Tesco saw an extra 12,000 customers,

However this trend is in contrast to the one over the past year which has seen them losing shoppers, Kantar adds.